And It Felt Like A Kiss: Part Seven
by yestermeyesteryou
Summary: Part Seven of the multi-part story 'And It Felt Like A Kiss'. It had not been Blaine's finest hour, and now he's going to have to deal with some of the consequences.
1. Just the basic facts

_Disclaimer__: The author of this piece does not, in any way, profit from the story and all creative rights to the characters from Glee belong to their original creators._

___Summary__: Part Seven of the multi-part story 'And It Felt Like A Kiss'. It had not been Blaine's finest hour, and now he's going to have to deal with some of the consequences._

___Notes____: Will be two chapters in total._

___Enjoy!_

* * *

Puck took out two coffee mugs out of the cupboard, placing them on the counter and proceeded to fill them up with coffee.

"Thanks a lot, Puck." Becca sat by the kitchen table with her daughter in her lap, pouring a spoon of sugar into her cup. "Believe me, I need all the energy I can get."

He chuckled, giving the little girl in her lap a wave. "I'm sure I don't even want to know about it."

Bringing the cup to her lips, Becca took a sip of the hot beverage. "So how are things with you?"

Sighing, Puck brought his shoulders up in a little shrug. "Good."

She threw him a knowing smile. "You sure?"

Puck scratched his head, looking at the cup in front of him. "I mean, it's good. Had a little fight with Blaine last night because I think he should go back to therapy, but he doesn't want to hear about it."

Nodding, Becca stirred another spoon of sugar into her coffee. "Not that I knew that he did therapy, but may I ask how come you think he should go back?"

Scratching his head again, Puck looked at her. "I don't know. He kind of made a questionable decision recently and I think he was on a really good path before he stopped. He's not crazy or depressed or anything, but he just doesn't seem to get some stuff and I don't seem to be able to really get through to him either."

"Ok. I'm almost afraid of asking, but what did he do?"

Puck twisted his eyebrow, looking at her again. "Dinner with his ex?"

"His ex Mark?"

"Yeah. I mean, I let him off the hook right away because I can't stay mad at the guy but I don't know, it felt funny."

Becca looked a little confused, giving Puck a concerned look. "No, yeah I'm sure. Doesn't sound like Blaine. And it was only dinner?"

"Pretty much. I mean, he's super sorry about it but I don't like the idea that he'd probably be back with him if I wasn't in the picture. That shouldn't change the fact that he shouldn't do that, you know? But I'm pretty he would be, in a heartbeat, now that Mark has 'changed'. It kind of scares me."

"Thank god for you then, right?" She smiled at him reassuringly.

He took a sip of his cup, smiling back in return. "Right."

* * *

"Um, probably pizza, beer or water… I guess beer, water, pizza and chips or something. You?"

"If I could only eat and drink four things for the rest of my life I would definitely not pick water. Coke, beer, mac' n' cheese and peanut butter."

"Alright, alright. Hey, Johnson?"

"What's up?" Puck's colleague looked over at him from the driver's seat of the ambulance.

"Can I ask you a hypothetical question?"

"Sure."

Taking a deep breath, Puck wondered if he'd lost his mind asking his nice, but kind of crazy co-worker for advice, but he couldn't exactly talk to Sam about private things like this. "Let's say you have a girlfriend."

"Which I don't have."

"You know what hypothetical means, right?"

"Yes."

"Ok, so anyway you have a girlfriend. And she has this ex who used to hit her, and she goes to dinner with him for like, 'closure' or whatever because apparently he stopped drinking or something. What would you do?"

"Um, I don't know. I mean, I guess I get why she'd feel the need to do that but it doesn't sound like a good idea. Why you asking?"

Puck looked out the window of the vehicle. "I don't know, it's an interesting scenario."

"Your boyfriend?"

Puck just sort of shrugged. "It's an interesting question."

"So what would you do?"

Digging into his jacket for some gum, he found a pack and popped one into his mouth. "I think I would hear him out… her, whatever. Get a little pissed, but then I would forgive."

"You know what I think?" Johnson looked over at Puck, who shook his head at him while listening intently. "I think sometimes people do stupid things without wanting to hurt us, for reasons that we can't quite understand."

* * *

"A little bird told me that you went to see Mark a little while ago."

Sitting in the bedroom with her baby in her lap, Becca shook her head at the discussion she assumed was about to take place on the other side of the thin door.

Blaine clenched his jaw and took a deep breath through his nose, afraid to look up at his brother.

"What the hell were you thinking?"

"Was I thinking?" He honestly didn't know anymore.

Cooper shook his head at him in disbelief. "I'm interested to know not only how you could do that to yourself, but how could you do that to Puck?"

Blaine also shook his head, looking down at his hands while nervously playing with his keys.

"He doesn't even give you any grief for it, you know what Mark would have done if you'd pull this kind of stunt on him?"

"Cooper…"

"He would have beaten the shit out of you. But he wants to buy you dinner so why not, right?"

"I know that."

"I honestly want to slap you right in the fucking face right now. I'm almost surprised that Puck didn't."

Blaine just squeezed one of the keys in his hand, trying to distract himself from some of the pain welling up in his chest. The last thing he wanted was for his brother to find out.

"You don't have anything to say about this?"

Breathing through his nose, Blaine shut his eyes for a moment before looking up, no words finding their way out of his mouth.

"If you do this again I will seriously have no qualms about kicking your ass myself."

"I'm not doing it again."

"You know I care about you, but you seem to have lost all sense of reason of caring about yourself and your relationships so I'm starting to wonder why the fuck I should?"

Once again, he didn't really know what to say.

"You called me at four in the morning because your asshole of a boyfriend socked you in the face for the last time, I picked you up. You stayed at my place until you could get your life sorted out again."

"I know, and I am really grateful for that."

"I don't see how you can even face up to your boyfriend. You know he's the best thing that ever happened to you."

"I know."

Cooper shrugged and shook his head, looking down at the floor. "I really don't get it."

"Was there anything else you wanted to say?"

"I don't know. I'm sure I don't even know the half of it. Do I want to know?"

"I guess not."

"I bet you slept with him."

Blaine took a step back, getting ready to leave. "I'm not listening to this anymore."

"You're so ungrateful, you know. Puck is always looking out for you. I have always looked out for you."

Turning back around, Blaine raised his arms in the air. "Have you? Did you?"

"Oh, really, Blaine? Let me tell you a little story that's going to help you put a couple of things into perspective for you."

"Please, by all means Cooper, why don't you tell me a story."

Cooper took two steps closer, lowering his voice. "When I graduated High School I had four different scholarships in New York and L.A that I turned down, you want to know why?"

Blaine just shook his head.

"Well, I'm going to tell you anyway. See, I had this little brother back in Ohio who needed me to be there for him, because there was no other person in the whole world that was. So I stayed. I stayed for ten years in that shitty little town, making sure you'd be Ok. And I have never regretted that decision before, never even came close to it. But I think I do, now, because to be honest it doesn't seem like it made a difference."

If he could have chosen between a slap in the face and the confession he just had thrown at him, he would have chosen the former ten times over. "I don't even know what this is about anymore."

"It's about you, Blaine, and the stupid decisions that you make. Sure, dad was a real asshole. That sucks, I lived that too. But can you tell me why you spent almost your whole life looking for someone like him? I raised you, Blaine. Dad didn't teach you how to ride a bike, I did. I'm the one who taught you right from wrong. I tried to be a good role-model for you, so why can't you just want to be with someone who's more like me?"

"You did not live what I lived through, Cooper. He hated me, because I am the way I am and because I could never be you. You just chose to hate him."

"Because I saw him for what he was. I did it for you. It's time to step up and be a man, Blaine."

Looking down at his feet, Blaine took a deep breath before continuing. "I am a man."

"Then how come you're acting like a little boy?"

Blaine turned around once again, redlining towards the door this time. "I'm out of here."

"Good."

"Yeah, it's good."

"Say Hi to your boyfriend and let him know I think he's better off without you."

"I'll make sure to let him know." And with that, Blaine slammed the door to his brother's apartment and took two steps backing away from it, before turning around to walk down the stairs.

* * *

"You look like you just saw a ghost."

Puck opened the door and let Blaine into the apartment, who kind of just mindlessly stepped into the hallway.

"Cooper found out about my little indiscretion." He shrugged the jacket off his shoulders and continued inside, a stunned looking Puck behind him.

"Shit, Blaine…"

"I don't even…"

"I." Puck paused for a second. "I kind of talked to Becca about some stuff."

Shaking his head, Blaine shrugged. "I don't care, at the end of the day it's my fault. I was just hoping that I'd get away with it."

"I'm sorry." Puck took a step to close the space between them, embracing him in a hug. "What did he say?" He could hear the person in his arms having a little trouble breathing, catching the hitch in there somewhere.

"I don't know, I'm not even sure if he's my brother anymore." He took a sharp breath through his nose in an attempt to keep the tears at bay, hearing a nervous laughter somewhere above him.

"I'm sure he'll get over it."

He shook his head against Puck's shoulder. "He wanted me to tell you that you're better off without me, and he's 'almost surprised' you haven't slapped me in the face yet." The hug just got a little bit tighter.

Puck spoke softly, his mouth against Blaine's head. "I promised you I'd never be like him." He could feel the shaking head against his shoulder turning into some kind of nod, as Blaine took an unstable breath.

"Thank you." The following sentence was barely audible. "I don't deserve you."

"Shh, that's bullshit. And besides, someone I've been hanging around with lately has taught me a thing or two about forgiveness."

* * *

"You don't think that was a little harsh?" Becca stood in their living room, a little irritated after having finally succeeded in getting the baby to sleep. "What does you not going to L.A or New York have to do with him having dinner with an ex?" She looked at her fiancé, sitting on the sofa.

"Maybe it has nothing to do with it, but I'm sick of him not getting just how good he has it. He needs a little perspective."

"Has he really had it that good, though?"

Cooper stared aimlessly at the TV.

"Look…" Becca crossed the living room, coming to sit down next to him on the couch. "If Puck has forgiven him, then I think you should too. He didn't do anything to you, I don't see why you're this upset." She got a scoff in return. "I shouldn't have told you anything."

"I'm kind of curious as to why I am the last to know, actually?"

"I think it may have a little something to do with the fact that your reaction basically entailed telling your little brother that you regret everything you've ever done for him. Is this really any of our business?"

Shaking his head, Cooper crossed his arms over his chest. "If you repeatedly punch my brother in the face then any interaction that you have with him is my business."

"Yet you seem a lot angrier with Blaine than with Mark."

"Do you see him anywhere? Believe me, if he was here he'd be missing about half his teeth by now."

Becca sighed heavily, clasping her hands together on her lap. "You know you're going to have to forgive him. And apologize for a couple of things that you said."

"He didn't seem very apologetic to me."

"I think he was, until you basically declared that you had disowned him."

"I didn't disown him. He's my brother."

"Then you let him know that."

* * *

"What's up with you, man?" Sam looked at Blaine curiously from across the table in the booth they were seated at, before pouring himself another beer from the pitcher.

Throwing a hand on Blaine's back, Puck gave him two firm pats. "His brother yelled at him."

His boyfriend shot him an unamused look in return.

"Whoa, what did you do there, Blainers?"

Blaine just shook his head. "If one more person finds out we might as well just take it to Jerry Springer so, no."

Holding his hands up in defeat, Sam chuckled. "Ok, ok."

Blaine crossed his arms on the table, burying his face in them and let out a frustrated moan.

"So anyway, are we still on for tomorrow, Sam?"

"You bet."

Raising his head from his arms, Blaine looked up at his boyfriend and his friend. "On for what?"

Puck scratched at his jaw, almost avoiding looking at him. "We're going to the game tomorrow. I didn't tell you about that?"

Blaine raised his shoulders, giving them both a puzzled look while opening his mouth to say something before he was interrupted by Sam.

"I only had two tickets, so…"

This time, Puck did look at him. "We didn't think you'd want to go."

Nodding, mostly to himself, Blaine drank the last of his beer. "Ok." He stood up. Puck getting ready to follow. "Stay, by all means."

Somewhere in between standing up and sitting down, Puck reclined back into the booth. "You sure?"

"I need a walk, I'll see you at home."

"Ok." Puck watched his boyfriend walk out of the bar with slumped shoulders.

"Ok."

* * *

"Finally, you're home." Blaine looked up from the couch, lowering the volume of the TV as Puck walked into the living room.

"Blaine, I'm sorry about the ticket stuff, I honestly didn't think you'd mind."

Getting up from the couch, Blaine walked over to him, putting his hands around Puck's hips who in turn let his arms rest on Blaine's shoulders.

"No, I'm sorry… I guess I felt left out or something, and I can't stop thinking about Cooper…" Blaine started kissing Puck along his jawline, putting his fingers through the loops on Puck jeans to pull him with him into the bedroom. A needy little noise came from somewhere in his throat as the back of his legs met the edge of the bed, letting himself fall back on it to lean back on his elbows. Puck didn't follow. "What?"

"I just…"

Blaine shot him a confused look. "You just what?"

Puck crossed his arms over his chest, looking down at his feet. "This is also why I think maybe you should see a therapist."

"This, again? What is it now? Puck, I told you…"

"You have to stop wanting to have sex every time you feel like you need to numb something."

Opening his mouth to protest, Blaine first just shook his head in disbelief while realizing that there was probably some truth in what Puck had said. "Why?"

"Because, Blaine, to be honest it makes me feel a little weird."

He twisted his eyebrows. "What, like I'm using you for sex so I can numb my feelings and you get nothing out of it?"

"I don't think you're using me, and of course I get something out of it but then I kind of feel guilty."

Blaine shrugged his shoulders, looking to his side. "I've never gotten any complaints before."

"Because, Blaine, of course I want to sleep with you, if it was up to me we wouldn't do much else."

"So what's the problem?"

"The problem is that I want to fuck you when I'm horny, and you want me to fuck you when you're upset about something."

Blaine just stared right ahead, pushing himself up to sit by the edge of the bed.

"Let's recount a couple of instances, you happen to see your ex in the restroom of a bar and later that evening you ask me to hit you before having sex with you."

"I thought we had let that go…"

Puck ignored his comment, continuing. "You feel bad about meeting him and then you ask me to 'fuck you so hard 'til it hurts', sometimes you wake up from nightmares about your ex doing god knows what to you and you cling to me like a love-sick puppy. I'm not saying it's all the time, or even often, but it definitely happens once in a while and I can't just let it slip by. There's a difference between just playing around and that stuff."

Resting his head in his hands, Blaine took a deep breath.

"I think you have some unhealthy attitudes towards sex, Blaine."

Dropping his hands from his face, he looked up, sarcasm in his voice. "I wonder why that is?"

"Then…" Coming over to sit next to him, Puck attempted to put an arm around Blaine, who in turn just scooted further down the bed. "Talk to me. And if you can't talk to me, at least talk to someone."

"Ok, I guess I'm sorry that my attitudes towards sex are 'unhealthy' when this is the first sexually healthy relationship that I've ever been in."

Puck nodded slightly, keeping his hands towards himself. He looked down at them, lowering his voice. "I just… Sometimes I'm scared that the only reason you can love me is because when we were in High School I was the guy who made a pass at you, then rejected you by breaking your nose."

Blaine let out a dissatisfied moan eerily similar to a sob almost instantly upon hearing the confession, burying his face into his hands again. "That's not true."

Looking over at his boyfriend, Puck could barely stand the sight of the person he loved, crumbling beside him. "You sure?"

Meeting his eyes somewhere through the darkness of the room and the fog in his eyes, Blaine turned to his side and put his arms around Puck, feeling a hand travel up and down his spine to settle on his lower back, fingers rubbing little circles though the thin fabric of his t-shirt.

"I'm sure..."

"Ok. Hey." Puck tried on a comforting smile. "Do you want me to talk to Cooper?"

"I don't know. I think I just have to let him be for a while."

"Alright."

* * *

Puck jumped out of the passenger seat of Sam's car, meeting him at the front of it as they started making their way to the stadium.

"So, anyway, sure Blaine was cool with it?"

"Yeah, yeah. He was fine." Puck dug his hands into the pockets of his jeans as they walked over the parking lot.

"You just banged it out later, I assume?"

Letting out a little chuckle as he kicked some gravel on the ground, Puck looked up into the clear sky. "Not exactly."

Digging a hand into his back pocket, Sam pulled out his wallet to present their tickets, as they were approaching the entrance of the stadium. "Trouble in paradise?"

Puck stopped at the big gate, letting out a heavy sigh as he accepted a ticket from Sam. "Not trouble, just a little speed bump I guess." He felt a hand shake his shoulder reassuringly.

"I'm sure it's nothing."

* * *

"The thing though, Paul, is that the assignment was creative writing and geography, but you just transcribed an episode of 'Lost' you happen to have on your iPhone."

"What's transcribed?"

Blaine looked at his confused student. "It's when you… Ok, I'll grade your spelling or something but I still want 400 words about a country in Europe that you'd like to visit and what you'd do there for homework. Ok? Why don't you get your things together, 'cause we're about to finish up here."

"Ok, I guess…" Paul returned to his seat and Blaine stood up from his desk.

"Class, good work so far but I'd like to clarify one thing. Fictional experience, actual place that can be found on a map. Got it? Finish your work at home, and in your own words please, not in your parents' or siblings'." Blaine looked over at Paul, sitting back by his desk. "Or in the words of a professional team of scriptwriters."

At least half the class seemed to have listened to their teacher speaking. "Yes, Mr. Anderson."

"Alright guys, class dismissed." Blaine sat down again, half expecting to see Sam appear in the doorway to his classroom any minute now. The man did not disappoint.

"Hey, B."

"Sam, how was the game last night?" He gathered some papers scattered around his desk into a neat pile, shoving them into a folder and grabbed his briefcase that was hanging on the back of his chair, getting up.

"Cool. I mean, we lost, but it was an exciting game."

"Alright. I was going to go to the teachers' lounge for a coffee, want to come?"

"Yeah, I was about to ask you the same thing." The two friends and colleagues walked down the hall towards their destination.

"So." Grabbing two cups and filling them with coffee, Sam walked over to a little table and sat them down. "Everything's cool with you and Puck?"

Blaine stood still for a moment, before sitting down by the table. "Yes… What, did Puck say something?"

"No, no, just checking on my two best friends. You've seemed a bit down lately."

"I guess." He leaned back on his chair, taking a sip from the cup in front of him. "It just feels like everyone has an opinion or is disappointed with me lately and like, I get it, but at the same time it's really exhausting. And I can't stand my brother being mad at me."

Sam looked up carefully. "Why is he so mad at you?"

"I'd say, but if another person looks at me like I'm such an idiot, I think I'm honestly going to lose it."

"Ok." Sam didn't feel the need to ask three times.

Blaine threw him a quick look. "I didn't cheat on Puck."

"I'd never think you would."

"Ok, Good. Thanks."

"Look, years ago I used to be with this girl. Sometimes in a relationship I tend to sidestep, but when I was with her I never as much looked at another woman, even. But she would cheat on me, all the time. I was like, obsessed with her or something, and it didn't end until she dumped me for another guy."

Not quite sure where this was going, Blaine listened on while sipping on his coffee.

"So time passes, I date this new chick who's amazing, super nice and beautiful, would never cheat on me or anything. Until I get a call from my ex-girlfriend, saying she wants to meet me and talk about things. Apologize for what she did. So I run back to her, blindly, and we talk, it was good but it was painful and at some point I told my girlfriend. She was livid, at first, but then eventually she forgave me. Then that relationship ended because I actually did cheat on her a couple of months later so I'm not entirely sure what the moral of the story was."

"Me neither?"

"Whatever bad things that you're capable of doing can't be that bad. And whatever it was, Puck is pretty much over it and your brother will come around."

"I hope so."

"And in the meantime, you always have me. I'm your buddy, right?"

Blaine set down his empty cup, smiling at his friend. "I guess you're right."

_**TBC**_


	2. Can you show me where it hurts?

"So, I'm back."

"It's good to see you back, Blaine. How about you tell me a little about your decision to revisit therapy."

"I did something dumb, leading me to believe that I'm probably not completely over with what happened with my ex. And my boyfriend seems to think I have 'unhealthy attitudes towards sex', so I'm mostly here to calm him down a bit."

"You don't think you have some unhealthy attitudes towards sex, Blaine?"

"I don't know… Do I?"

"Think about your past relationships. Think about all those things that I'm very aware of that you haven't even told me yet."

"How do you know?"

"You're not my first patient that got out of an abusive relationship, Blaine. Does your boyfriend know?"

"He basically knows, yeah."

"And as a health care professional I'm sure he's aware of a lot more than you think, Blaine."

"Maybe."

"How would you describe a healthy, sexual relationship between two people?"

"Um, mutual. No one feels used, equal conditions. I guess it should be at least somewhat passionate, or else I'd wonder why those two people are sleeping together in the first place. Playful, maybe."

"Do you feel like you have that now?"

"Yes. Absolutely."

"And looking back on your past relationships, have you had that before?"

"I did in the beginning with Mark. Or at least I think I did. But later down the line I had some of my worst sexual experiences with him so it's kind of hard to tell."

"What has your current boyfriend said about thinking that your attitudes towards sex are unhealthy?"

"I try to numb my feelings with sex sometimes. And I guess he sort of pointed out to me that I like it a bit rougher when I'm not feeling so good? I mean, we can do 'rough' and it's fine, it's really great even but he's never given it to me the way I asked when he thought it wasn't right."

"Like when you asked him to hit you during sex, as a reaction to seeing you ex in a bar earlier that evening?"

"That would be one example, yes. It confused me at the time but apparently this is something I do?"

"We'll be able to work this through, Blaine. But in the meantime, you say you're able to enjoy a healthy, 'normal' sex life as well?"

"Yes. It's really good. I never knew it could be like that."

"Then you've already come a very long way."

* * *

"Cooper?"

"What do you want, Blaine?"

"I just want to talk to my brother." Blaine nervously held the phone against his ear, holding his breath awaiting Cooper's response.

There was a heavy sigh on the other end. "I don't know."

He felt frustrated, picking on the little button at the cuff of his shirt. "Are you just going to avoid me forever? I miss you. I miss Emma." He didn't hear anything on the other end of the line for a little bit.

"We'll talk some other time, Ok?"

"Ok, Cooper."

"Bye Blaine."

"Bye." He set the phone down on the coffee table in front of him, leaning back against the couch for a moment, eyes tightly shut before getting up to walk into the bedroom.

Puck looked up from the magazine he was reading. "Still nothing?"

"Nope." Pulling off his shirt and pants, Blaine got settled on the bed next to Puck and turned towards him, pulling the magazine out of his hands.

Puck looked at him, bemused. "Could I get that back, please?"

Climbing on top of him, Blaine started kissing along his neck. "Maybe if you ask nicely."

"I already did." Puck let his head fall back onto the pillow, breathing through his nose. Two hands travelled down his sides, grabbing the hem of his t-shirt, slowly pulling it up.

Blaine felt two strong hands grab a hold on his wrists, stopping his task.

"Could I have the magazine back, please?"

Nodding without looking up, Blaine climbed off his boyfriend and retrieved the magazine, getting settled on his side again. They laid there in silence for a bit, before he could hear Puck's audible sigh.

"I'm sorry, but since you don't even notice that you're doing it then at least I have to do something."

Blaine stared into the ceiling. "Why can't you just let me? It's not like it hurts me."

"Because, I told you it doesn't feel right. You know for someone as enlightened as you I'm honestly surprised that you aren't getting this. It feels really weird being the voice of reason around here lately."

"So, my brother won't talk to me, and my boyfriend won't have sex with me."

Setting down the magazine on his chest, Puck turned to turn off the light.

"I guess not, Blaine."

Blaine turned on his side, back towards Puck. "You know there's a person out there I know who'd gladly do both of tho…"

Interrupting him, Puck spoke with a firm voice. "I'll give you one chance to not finish that sentence, and I'll pretend you never said it."

Keeping his mouth shut, Blaine tightly closed his eyelids.

"Blaine… I love you so much. I just want you to be Ok."

It was barely a whisper. "I know."

"Good."

Good, he guessed.

* * *

"Shots?"

"Again? I work tomorrow. You work tomorrow!"

Sam smiled at his friend. "Just one more round."

"Fine…" Pouring himself another beer from the pitcher, Blaine couldn't help but smile back. Sam really was trying to cheer him up, gesturing to the waitress that they'd need another round of tequila.

"So, are things starting to look up?"

Blaine let out a sigh, staring into his glass. "Not exactly."

"Yeah, you almost seem worse now. What's up?"

Frowning just slightly, Blaine shook his head a little. "Puck won't sleep with me." The amount of beer and already shot back glasses of tequila were apparently taking some effect, he thought to himself upon hearing his revelation slip out of his mouth.

The waitress came over with their order, and Sam looked at him a bit confused. "Why?" He handed a glass over to Blaine.

"He's teaching me a lesson or something."

"Really? That's almost cruel." Sam chuckled, holding the little glass up to connect with Blaine's. "Cheers." They took their shots.

"No, I mean I know what it is. I'm working on it. He's actually absolutely right."

"Puck's right about something?"

"Yeah, I know. I was surprised too."

* * *

"Hey, Cooper. What's up buddy?"

"Ah, not much. Just trying to balance work and sharing an apartment with two chicks. Everything alright with you?"

Puck took a deep breath, pressing the phone against his ear while looking out the window at the street in front of their building. It looked like it was about to rain. "Pretty good."

"Let me guess, someone else is not doing pretty good?"

"Right…"

"And I assume it's that chipmunk of yours."

Chuckling, Puck closed the window with one hand as the sound of raindrops falling on the pavement filled the walls of the apartment. "That's the one." He paused for a second. "You know, if he knew what to do in order for you to talk to him again he'd do it in a heartbeat."

"I know." Cooper was silent for a moment. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Shoot."

"Why are you not giving him a hard time?"

Taking a deep breath, Puck leaned his back against the wall next to the window. "I am. Maybe not about that in particular but I am. I just can't push him away."

"You know, I have forgiven him. Of course I have, he's my brother, but I guess I felt like someone had to show him that actions have consequences and if you just repeat old mistakes you'll end up in the bed you made for yourself."

"I think he's learned his lesson."

"If you say so. I said some bad things to him, I should talk to him."

"When you're ready. I think he'd really appreciate it. I don't know what you said but it really killed him."

"I think I said some really bad things. To be honest one reason why I've been avoiding him is so that I don't have to face him crawling on his knees towards me because I took it to a place where really I should be asking him for forgiveness."

"You should just talk to him, first of all."

"You're a good guy, Puck. You know that. Thank god."

"And you're a good brother. When you want to be."

* * *

"You've told me before that you do not think you grew up in a violent household."

"I didn't. I mean, it wasn't nice but my dad wasn't some drunk who slapped me around. He whipped me with his belt like, twice maybe."

"You don't think being whipped with a belt is violent? How old were you when it happened?"

"16, maybe. But it was all very controlled, I knew I deserved it because I was aware of the rules and I broke them."

"What had you done?"

"Had some, dirty pictures on my computer. Gay pictures."

"And you think you deserved what you got for expressing your sexuality?"

"He made it clear what he wanted from me and what the consequences would be, and I didn't exactly deliver on my part."

"So it sounds like he set the rules by using threats?"

"Yeah, I mean he threatened to do it all the time."

"Tell me, why do you not think that was violent?"

"My boyfriend grew up in a violent household, his dad drank and beat his mom and him. Physically, I was Ok."

"And emotionally?"

"Emotionally, no. Can't say I was."

"Do you think your father's threats and executions of punishment, as well as your attraction towards and tendency to want to appeal to older men could have anything to do with the way you respond to sex when you're upset about something?"

"I… I hope not. But my current boyfriend is not older, just a year."

"A first for you, other than your college friend who refused to kiss you and with whom your whole relationship was limited to performing oral sex on him."

"Right."

"I'm not saying that it's necessary for you to completely rule out the possibility of ever dating somebody older again, but what you have be careful with is to stay away from people that are manipulative and abusive on different levels. I think that you might have a tendency to be drawn towards people that can make you feel special in their eyes, while also having the ability to make you feel worthless to rest of the world. This is not to blame to victim, but rather a certain 'type' you've seemed to developed. Having a father-complex is very common, and you seem to have been searching for people who could make you feel smaller, just like your father could, while at the same time showing you affection which is something that he never did."

"I know you're right. But my boyfriend isn't like that."

"If that's true, Blaine, then dating someone like him is probably one of the most significant changes you could have done in your life, with the exception of being single."

"That's good, right?"

"It is. But do you see how crucial it is that you cut ties with your ex who you met with, seeing as it could put all of these positive changes into jeopardy?"

"I do."

* * *

"Hi."

"Blaine, Hi."

"Can I come in?"

"Sure."

Blaine slipped past Cooper, into the living room of his brother's apartment. "So, how's Emma?"

Slipping his hands into the front pockets of his jeans, Cooper shrugged, almost nervously. "She's great. Out with Becca."

"Ok."

"Look, Blaine. I'm really sorry about what I said and I want you to know that. I didn't actually want to tell you about staying in Ohio because to be honest that it is probably one of the things in my life that I'm proudest of doing. I have always really appreciated our relationship and I don't want it to change." Cooper spoke, looking up at Blaine occasionally.

"So, wait, do you forgive me?" The relief of hearing that his brother was sorry too made Blaine's heart feel that much lighter.

"Of course I do. I mean, it's probably the most stupid thing you've ever done but luckily enough you've made some good choices lately as well, Puck being one of them."

"I am really sorry. I feel like I've been saying that a lot lately but I mean it."

"I know you do. But, way more importantly. Can you forgive me? I didn't mean any of the things about regretting being there when you were growing up. I just, I just felt like I had failed you, but you're such an amazing person that it doesn't even make any sense. I am so proud of you, you know? When I said those things I was only disappointed with myself. "

"It's Ok. Or at least it will be. I really didn't mean to question you being there for me. God knows what would have happened to me if you weren't around…" Blaine let out a relieved laughter, sitting down on the sofa. "I remember when you taught me how to ride a bike. I had forgotten about it. I think I fell down a lot."

"Yeah." Cooper smiled at him.

"I also remember you trying to teach me about the joys of safe, gay sex. Now that is a conversation I wish I could have forgotten."

"Hey! You're lucky you had me."

Blaine nodded, the smile on his face turning a little less playful with his words. "I really, really am."

Cooper walked up to the couch, sitting himself down next to his brother, turning more serious. "It was just words, you know? I don't want anything bad to happen to you or for you to get hurt, ever again. No matter what you do. I hope you know that. You only deserve to be happy. I love you, you're my brother."

Blaine looked down for a moment, nodding while taking a deep breath. "It hurt, but I can forgive you. Because you did all those things for me."

"Thank god… I was really scared of talking to you, to be honest."

"That's cute. Someone being scared of me."

"Feel free to be mad at me for a while if you want to." Cooper laughed nervously, pulling a hand through his hair.

"Normally I probably would be, but if everyone could just stop being mad at each other for two seconds, I'd be the happiest guy in the world."

* * *

"You look odd." Puck twisted an eyebrow at his boyfriend, sitting next to him on the couch.

"What, I'm just smiling."

"Exactly. Why?"

"I'm trying to communicate that I'm feeling good, have no feelings I need to numb right now, we're going out with Sam later which should be fun."

"And..?"

"And I would just like to have some healthy, perfectly normal sex with my boyfriend."

Leaning closer, Puck instantly let his hands run up Blaine's chest. "Well, when you put it like that then how am I supposed to resist..?" He started kissing his neck, feeling Blaine's hot breath next to his ear as his hands started to work on the buttons on Blaine's shirt, grabbing a hold on his upper arms to drag him off the couch when he was done.

Blaine was led backwards into the bedroom, Puck still busy sucking and kissing on his neck as he let his shirt fall off his shoulders. Puck dragged his t-shirt off his head, feeling one of Blaine's hands playing with the hem of his jeans. His face came closer, pressing a kiss right under the taller man's ear.

"Choke me…"

Puck instantly took half a step back, looking down at Blaine with an outright baffled expression. Blaine, on the other hand, looked like he was trying his best to contain his amusement.

"I'm kidding. It was a joke."

Shaking his head Puck stepped back to him. "You little fucker…" He grabbed Blaine by the shoulder, giving him a hard smack on his ass before pushing him backwards on the bed.

"But that's still allowed, right?"

Puck climbed down over him, starting to kiss his stomach while letting his hands snake under him to grab his backside. "That, my little friend, will always be allowed."

* * *

"There's a booth." Sam started to walk into the direction of one of their favorite spots in the bar.

Approaching a bar table on the way with a little hitch in his steps, Blaine stopped. "Can we stand?" It got him a smirk from Sam in return as Puck walked up to them.

"Good for you, Blaine."

"What?"

"I take it Puck here finally put an end to his sex-embargo. I'll go get us a pitcher."

Puck looked at Sam walking away for a second, mouth agape, before turning to Blaine to step behind him. "What the hell?"

"What? I have to talk to someone, don't I? And this is your fault, by the way." Blaine shifted from one foot to the other, looking over his shoulder at Puck.

"I'm sorry, didn't know you were so fragile." He chuckled.

"I'm really not, and that definitely says something about you."

Puck stepped a little closer, almost whispering against the back of his head. "When you say 'harder', I'm going to give it to you harder…"

Letting out what almost sounded like a little whine from somewhere deep inside his throat, Blaine leaned his head back a little. "And it hurts so good… I'm just not going to be doing a lot of sitting tonight."

Puck took a step back, leaning against the table as Sam returned with their glasses and a pitcher of beer.

"Here guys…" He doled out the glasses, filling them to the brink with the freshly tapped beer. "I don't have to feel guilty about making fun of Blaine, Puck is no longer suffering from a bad case of blue balls…"

Clearing his throat, Puck took a big swig of the cool beverage, hoping it might keep that sudden blush under control.

"… and everything is back to normal." Sam brought his glass up, mid-air. "Cheers, guys."

The three friends let their glasses collide. "Cheers."

"Hey, Puck. Doesn't that guy look familiar?" Blaine pointed at a tall figure behind his boyfriend's back approaching their table, prompting him to look over his shoulder.

"Yeah…"

The guy walked up to them, beer in hand. "Look at that, if it isn't Paul and Chuck."

Blaine twisted an eyebrow. "Actually, it's Blaine and Puck."

Puck nodded towards him. "Hi, Sebastian."

Quirking his mouth to the side, Sam pointed a finger at the tall stranger. "Who the hell is this guy?"

Sebastian turned towards him. "I could say the same thing about you." He addressed the couple, both standing there sort of scratching their heads. "Did you find a replacement for me already? My offer is still standing, you know."

Blaine twisted his head slightly. "Sam is, not gay."

Once again, Sebastian turned to their friend. "Really? You might want to rethink that hairstyle, dude. Or maybe you just haven't met the right man yet…"

Sam shot Puck and Blaine an annoyed look. "Does he always talk like this?"

Shrugging, Puck took a sip off his beer. "I wouldn't really know about that."

"I kind of have a feeling that he does." Blaine chimed in.

"Excuse me, killer, but I'm going to go get a refill." Winking at Blaine and walking off towards the bar, Sebastian left three confounded friends in his wake.

"Your stalker?" Sam nodded towards the bar.

Smiling behind his beer, Blaine laughed. "I guess so."

And just like that, things actually did feel like they were back to normal.

_**FIN**_

* * *

_Thanks once again for reading everyone! It's lovely seeing people getting so invested into the story. Just to clarify, fundamentally Cooper and Blaine have a relationship that is good but just like most siblings fights can get a little out of hand sometimes. I also feel like I need to bring in some new elements and dynamics because a lot of the ongoing storylines are being tied up or resolved in one way or another, and I don't want to rehash things too much._

I am loving the input though, hope you enjoyed!


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